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Jun 2, 2013

The T23 Medium Tank (History and Possible Re-introduction into WoT)

Author: Priory_of_Sion
For those who have been playing WoT for a while should recognize the name "T23". The T23 was a tier 8 American Medium before the M46 and M48. Ever since the removal of the T23 there has been a lot of player support to reinstate the T23 as a higher tier American Premium.

There is a problem with that though, beyond the fact WG has no current plans for it. As you should know premium vehicles are usually kept exactly as they were/suppose to be in real life. The T23, as it was in real life, would be terrible as anything over tier 6.

The T23 was developed in 1943 and at the time was a perfectly fine tank. It was equipped with the M1A1 76 mm gun and had 500 gross horsepower. The first pilot T23 was fitted with a quickly produced cast turret, the next couple of pilots came with the same turret as the T20(stock turret in WoT), and the last pilots and the production series of T23 were equipped with a new turret(used in the later M4 Shermans).

This is the T23 with VVS suspension and the same turret as the T20.

All of the T23's were powered by the Ford GAN engine which produced 500 hp and could accelerate the T23 to speeds upwards to 56 km/h. The first T23's used the vertical volute spring suspension as the early M4 Shermans did. The T23E3(the one WoT had, the T23E3's turret had the basket on it too) used an improved torsion bar suspension. A few T23s were tested with HVSS suspension as well. The T23 used an unique electric drive system, which meant the engine's power was directly used to power the tracks. Also another interesting fact is that you could drive the T23 via remote control and you didn't need to be in the tank to drive it.

T23E3

The T23 itself is not a suitable candidate for tier 7 or 8 primarily due to the gun. A premium T23 or T23E3 wouldn't be more/less an M4A3E8 with less RoF and a higher top speed. The T23/T23E3 would be a good tier 6 premium, at tier 7 it is a stock T20 with better turning while being outgunned by most tier 6 tanks, at tier 8 it would be simply fodder.

Now in July 1943 the T23E3 was to be accepted into service as the M27. The damned Army's bureaucracy ruined the proposed M27. If it did see production the M27 would bring firepower to the US that wasn't seen until late 1944 in the form of 76 mm armed Shermans. The T23 chassis was later developed and worked with and formed the basis of the M26 Pershing(T25 Medium Tank).

If you really wanted the T23 as it was back in the game you would need it to be a researchable vehicle. I'd personally call it the T23E3 or the M27 to be more accurate. To my understanding WG gives tanks some leeway if they didn't see production and modifies them hypothetically as they add on non-historical modules(they do this to all the nations by the way, ), but the hypothetical upgrades are logical if that vehicle was developed for a longer length of time. So if re-introduced, the T23E3/M27 could be armed with the M3 90 mm gun or even the T54 90 mm gun(same ballistics as the T15 90 mm guns in a smaller package), it could even mount a larger/more powerful engine like the old tier 8 T23 did.

This T23E3/M27 with logical and hypothetical improvements would be a great tier 7 or 8 vehicle in an alternative American medium line. There is an abundance of other American medium tanks out there and it could easily be done to create a new line. Hopefully one day the T23 will come back to WoT either as a tier 6 premium or as a higher tier vehicle in a new American medium line.

Now for those disappointed that the good ole T23 would be back as a tier 7/8 premium, cheer up. As I said in the last paragraph, the US has an abundance of medium tanks and any could fill the void of a higher tier premium tank that acts as a true medium(The T26E4 is a medium in name only). I can list about half-a-dozen off the top of my head, however I don't want to spoil any future articles.